Ok, I know the last thing I should be doing right now is starting a new fic but this silly idea came to me yesterday while I was out and I just HAD to start writing it. It involves my OC Isobel, who is quite a bit different in this story, mainly because the idea of trying to think of another character name sounds excruciating and I am very unoriginal. Also, this fic is set in London in 2024. I ususally write beyblade fics as if its the early 2000 (is that relevant? who knows) but for the sake of this fic lets imagine that G-Rev ended in 2023!
Hope you like it!
It was the start of a new tournament and Kai was feeling immeasurably jet lagged.
They had landed in London at what felt like ten o'clock in the evening only to find that it was actually only mid afternoon. Much to the entire teams dismay, they did not go straight to the hotel for a nap and instead headed for sign ups, followed by a celebratory dinner involving every team that was competing. It was held at some swanky restaurant where Mr Dickinson spoiled them with an eight course meal. Kai wouldn't have been surprised if it had cost more than the tournament itself. Tyson, to little surprise, managed to insult the head chef by complaining that each course was too small, and that the food- which was French- was too weird.
When they finally reached the hotels front desk later that evening Kai's temper was running short, culminating in a shouting match with Tyson. It was a shame because Kai was trying his best to be a better friend and improve his social skills. He was going to have to start working for Hiwatari Enterprises soon and Voltaire was right, he did have to learn how to talk to people in a way that did not make the average person think he was the devil incarnate.
Unfortunately however Kai felt that sharing a room with Tyson was just one step too far and so instead of acting like a normal human being and using kindness and a well reasoned argument, he merely stormed off with Tala instead. In Kai's opinion it was still a win. A small argument with Tyson that might only last a few days was way better than having to spend three months in a hotel room with him.
The next morning Kai went downstairs in search of coffee because he and Tala had already gone through all the sachets in their room. He had thought that Tyson would be too pissed to speak to him, yet…
"Kai? Kai! Kai? KAI!"
Oh god. Why the hell was Tyson already awake?
Kai swiftly pretended that he was not Kai. In fact, he had absolutely no idea who Kai was.
He proceeded to slip out of the hotel breakfast room as quickly as possible. He was carrying a large glass jug that he had managed to swipe from the juice bar, drain and fill instead with black coffee from the filter machine.
"Kai! Hey! Wait up!"
He did not look back as he rounded the corner and pressed the button to call the lift.
"You can't just take an entire jug of coffee, Kai!" shouted Tyson, whose hypocritical arms were full of pastries as he ran flat out and managed to squeeze between the lift doors as they closed.
Kai let out a sigh, what was the point of ignoring him, really?
"Says you!" Kai spat, "I saw you last night, sneaking into the dining hall to steal those two loaves of bread from the buffet, and the butter packets you shoved in your pockets!" he added, recalling vividly how when they were supposed to be checking in, Tyson had sneaked into the hotel dining room for a few minutes and had returned looking both pleased and suspiciously pregnant.
"It was one loaf of bread and a rotisserie chicken, actually."
"At least you're getting your protein."
"Did you get the calendar update?" asked Tyson as he took a bite of a pan au chocolat. "We've got a meeting with Mr D later. Something about the press this year."
"Hn, yeah I got it."
"And a tour of the stadium, its almost as if he thinks we can't read the signs plastered on every wall!"
"Maybe if you could prove that you can actually read he wouldn't have scheduled it," muttered Kai under his breath as the door opened. Tyson tried to kick him but Kai dodged and sped off down the hall to his room.
"See you later!" Tyson called.
Kai scanned his key card and opened the door. Inside, Tala was in bed, making out with Julia who had not been there when he had left. They both jumped as Kai entered and Tala withdrew his hand from up Julia's shirt.
"We need to come up with some sort of warning if you're going to be doing this all the time," said Kai as he placed the coffee down on the table between their two beds and then went over to the window to throw the curtains open.
"Sorry!" said Julia, who looked only slightly embarrassed.
"Its fine, I'd just rather not walk in on it. Put something on the door!" he said, wondering if it actually would have been better to stay with Tyson after all. He hadn't exactly banked on finding Tala and Julia banging in his room every day.
Kai had discovered- via the Blitzkrieg Boys group chat that he was somehow still apart of- that Julia and Tala had stayed in touch after BEGA had been dismantled. According to Bryan, every evening they spoke sweet nothings to each other on the phone for hours and hours and over Christmas Tala had even saved up enough money from a part time job to go and visit her in Spain.
"M' going in the shower," said Kai, filling his cup with coffee from the jug and taking it into the bathroom with him.
"Are you gonna drink that in the shower?" called Tala.
"Obviously."
"You fucking freak!"
Later that day Kai found himself back at the stadium sat between Tala and Tyson in the front row of a conference room filled with all the other teams, press and a strange looking group sat towards the back of the room. They all looked as if they were around the same age as the rest of the bladers. Surely they couldn't all be new teams, could they?
"Welcome!" said Mr Dickinson as everyone finally quietened down. "I called you all here today because as you all know, this year the Beyblade World Championships will be streamed worldwide," said Mr Dickinson proudly. "It is expected that millions of people will tune in to watch the tournament, more than ever before. As a result of this, the press team this year is much larger than it has been in previous years. Not only do we have our regular reporters," Mr Dickinson tipped his cap to the right side of the room, "but this year we have also invited a new and exciting group of select influencer's whose audiences are greatly anticipating any and all beyblade related news and even some behind the scenes action!"
At this pronouncement, the room was silent. Then-
"INFLUENCER'S?"
Heads turned, but Kai didn't have to look to know who the outraged voice belonged to.
"Yes Mr McGregor, influencer's! Some of the worlds finest-"
"Entitled attention seeking freeloaders you mean!" snapped Johnny, with the rest of the Majestics nodding in agreement.
"Hm," said Mr Dickinson disapprovingly. "Its a shame you think so Mr McGregor, as they are currently sat at the back of the room waiting to meet you."
At this, Johnny's head snapped around and everyone else followed his gaze to stare at the group of people at the back of the room.
So that's who they were- influencers- primed and ready to pounce at any given moment in the hopes of getting some clout online. Indeed, Kai noticed a few of them had already got their phones out and were filming, completely unabashed. Thankfully a few of them had the sense to look embarrassed and Kai watched as one guy grabbed the arm of person filming and pushed their phone down.
"Er-" said Mr Dickinson, nervously. Clearly this was not going the way he had hoped. "They will be staying in the hotel with you for the duration of the tournament so I hope that you can all get along!" he added in an anxious tone.
"Mr Dickinson?" Rei had put his hand up to speak.
"Yes Rei?"
"I'm sorry if I'm wrong for saying so, but this sounds awfully similar to reality TV. I mean, are they going to be vlogging? Even at the hotel? We didn't agree to this!"
"The influencers will simply be documenting their time here at the world championships. Hopefully you will not find it too intrusive. The interest in Beyblading is growing exponentially and we must do what we can to make these tournaments financially successful so that we can continue them for years to come. It is our hope that these influencers will draw in more viewers from a demographic that ordinarily would not watch the sport. I hope that their being here will not be too intrusive, I have set up a schedule for exclusive interviews and filming opportunities that should suffice. In fact, there is one scheduled for just after this meeting, I thought it would be good if you all toured the stadium in groups as a way to get to know each other. Really, these influencers are not much different from reporters-"
"We hate reporters!" shouted Tala.
"Aw come on, no we don't!" said Tyson, who clearly thought this idea was brilliant.
"You only like reporters because they inflate your already overlarge head!" snipped Hilary.
At this, Kai couldn't help but smirk. Rei was right though, this did sound awfully intrusive. The last thing he needed was obnoxious influencers crowding around him all day while he was trying to train and win matches.
Five minutes later they were all stood awkwardly in the concourse as Mr Dickinson paired an influencer with each team and sent them on their way.
"Clarissa?" he called as he approached the Bladebreakers.
"That's me!" said a tall blonde girl with an American accent, rushing over with her camera already out.
"Would you mind going on a little tour with the Bladebreakers?" asked Mr Dickinson.
"Oh my god, I'd like- love to!" she said in the most annoying voice Kai had ever heard.
"It is so nice to meet you all! I'm Clarissa!"
"Hey! I'm Max," said Max enthusiastically, "you're from the US?"
"Yeah, I live in LA!" she said happily. "It's so nice to be in London! Woo Queen Elizabeth!" and she plucked a small flag of the United Kingdom which she had pinned to her crop top and waved it around. Kai thought it might not be appropriate to remind her that Queen Elizabeth had died two years ago.
"Are you American?" she asked suddenly, surveying Max with interest, but before he could answer her eyes swept over the rest of the team. "Wait! Aren't you guys like the best team here?" she asked with glee. It was at that moment that Kai realised that she had almost no idea who any of them were.
"Oh my god, I'm so lucky!" and she pressed the button on top of her camera, flipping out a little screen so that she could see herself and began to record.
"Hi guys! Welcome back to my channel!" she squealed as Rei threw Kai an unnerved look. "I'm here in London with the Bladebreakers!" and she turned the camera to face them all. Kai stepped out of the shot.
"Hiya! I'm Tyson," said Tyson, making sure he was front and center. "Three times world champion, baby! You already know that though, don't you!" grinned Tyson as he stared down the camera lens. Of course he had to make sure that absolutely everyone knew that he was the world champion.
"Oh my god, you're world champion? Wow thats amazing!" said Clarissa smiling sycophantically.
"Heh, heh! Well thanks!" said Tyson, passing over the fact that Clarissa had no idea who he was and instead thrusting throwing his arm around the girls shoulders. "Clarissa and I are going to give you the best tour of the stadium that anyone has EVER seen!"
Hilary's face looked as if it had turned to stone.
As expected, this was the worst type of press that any of them had ever been asked to do. Kai loitered behind his team as they wandered aimlessly around the stadium. He had almost slipped away a few times whenever he saw an easy escape route but Hilary and Rei kept pulling him back whenever he tried.
"Kai! Don't you want to be in my vlog?" complained Clarissa, who had not stopped yapping for one second. He glared at her and then looked back down at the floor with a small hn noise. "Oh don't be shy!" she said, getting completely the wrong end of the stick.
"I'm not shy."
"Er-" said Tyson. They had taken another wrong turn and ended up in a service corridor.
"Aw man," wailed Max, "I swear we've already been down here already!"
"Oh, its fine," said Clarissa, sounding annoyed. She pressed the button on her camera and the little red dot disappeared from the screen. "I'm sure I've got enough footage by now," she drawled, her voice becoming much more relaxed and if truth be told, a little bored. "We should go back and look at the sponsored drinks, I need to include a 15 second clip. Ugh."
Kai wondered how much she was getting paid for all this.
Afterwards they were allowed to stay and have free run of the stadium which was closed to the public for the evening. The training rooms opened and some of the bladers went off to train or else have friendly matches. The lights in the concourse dimmed and light music began playing as caterers brought out canapes and drinks on trays which the influencers took without a second thought. The bladers all appeared to think this was a bit odd, but none of them were about to pass up on free food, well, unless they were the Majestics. Although Kai could not see them and suspected that they left quite a while ago.
Kai had managed to find a quiet corner on the concourse and was leaning against a pillar, looking out over London as he sipped his champagne. It was beginning to feel really quite different from all the previous years. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He could hear chatter and laughter coming from the group of people crowded around one of the bars and it appeared that some of the influencers had brought their own beyblades and were racing them up and down the concourse. It was nice to know that not all of them were like Clarissa.
The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm glow over the London skyline. He could see the shard sticking up in the distance and Kai was just wondering when he might get a chance to go out and explore when a small voice sounded nearby.
"Um, hello."
Kai turned. It was a girl, one of the influencers. She had long black hair and was dressed alternatively. She stood a few feet away looking awkward and apprehensive. He hadn't even heard her approach, which was impressive because she was wearing very stompy looking boots.
"Hi," he muttered, remembering with regret that he was trying to be more sociable.
She stepped a little closer but said nothing. Kai assumed that she too was admiring the sunset and he must have been right because as he thought this, the girl whipped out her phone and began taking photos of it. After she had put her phone back into her pocket and they had stood there for a few long minutes, Kai decided to say something.
"Why aren't you over there with them?" he asked.
She merely grimaced and shrugged. "They all seem to kind of know each other already."
"Right."
More silence.
"Who'd you get paired off with earlier?" he asked. This whole social thing was not easy.
The girl let out a small huff of air. "I was supposed to be the Majestics but they weren't really having it."
"Ah," said Kai. Remembering how the Majestics had acted during the conference. "You dodged a bullet, Johnny's a twat."
"Yeah, I got that impression," she shrugged, "but I really need to put out some content today. My manager keeps asking me when I'm going to upload something because everyone else already has," and she threw the group of influencers an anxious glance. "I was wondering, if you don't mind-"
Ah, finally, the real reason why she had approached him. She wanted a photo.
"But I do mind," he said, pushing off from the wall and beginning to walk away.
"Oh, sorry- I didn't mean to-"
"Kai!" loud footsteps thundered towards them. It was Bryan. He had spotted the girl and was grinning mischievously. He grabbed Kai by the shoulders and steered him back to face her.
"Sorry! My dear friend Kai here is a bit of an arsehole sometimes," said Bryan. Kai inhaled deeply, trying to resist the urge to give him a good kick as Bryan leaned on Kai's shoulder and held his hand out for the girl to shake. "Don't take it personally. I'm Bryan, whats your name?"
"Er-" the girls eyes widened as she stared up at him with slightly pink cheeks. Bryan had grown another few inches over the past year, he must have been well over six foot tall at this point. "I'm Isobel. Its nice to meet you!" she said, shaking Bryan's giant hand.
"You're one of the influencers?" Bryan asked. Kai couldn't tell if he was genuinely interested or if this was just some great ploy designed specifically to annoy him.
"Yes," she said, looking awkward. "Although I don't usually make this kind of content, um, I just- well I guess I'm kind of a fan!" she said this very quickly, as if it wasn't important. "I just posted on my stories the other day about how excited I was to see the tournament, because, y'know, I had bought tickets, and um- then the organisers must have seen my post and reached out to me and- and now I'm here!" she waved her hands around in a dismissive manner. "It's kind of a bit surreal!" she mumbled, staring around at the auditorium.
Kai surveyed her, unable to help but notice that she was very nervous.
"Oh cool!" said Bryan, tightening his grip on Kai's shoulder. "That must be exciting for you, you get to see behind the scenes! Who's your favourite blader?" He demanded, then laughed when Isobel looked horrified. "Nah, you don't have to answer that!" he grinned as Isobel wrung her hands together and shifted from one platform boot to the other. "It's cool to have an actual fan here though, I'm not sure half of those lot even know what beyblading is!" and Bryan jerked his head towards the group of influencer's over on the other side of the hall.
Isobel let out a nervous laugh and moved slightly closer, lowering her voice. "Yeah, I overheard them talking this morning actually when we checked into the hotel. One girl said she didn't even know what beyblading was until she got the email about the campaign! She's got the most followers out of everyone, so go figure I guess!"
"Jeeez!"
"What kind of content do you post then?" Kai asked, suddenly. He wasn't sure why he was interested, but if she didn't post beyblade content, why was she even here?
"Um, fashion usually!" and Isobel gestured down to her clothes, she was dressed rather like some sort of gothic Bratz doll. He supposed she did stand out from the crowd, and she was pretty. It probably wouldn't be difficult to acquire a following with her looks and fashion sense.
"So what kinda content do you need today?" Bryan asked.
"Oh um, I don't know. Maybe a photo, or something. Together?" she asked hesitantly.
"A photo?" said Bryan, his natural charm showing through, "be my guest! Kai, will you take it?" he asked, finally letting him go.
Kai let out an exasperated noise. "Fine!"
"Oh! Thank you!" she said looking extremely relieved as she passed her phone to Kai with the camera already open. "Er- full body, please! And maybe you could take a few? So theres options?"
Kai let out another frustrated noise, "fine!"
She stood next to Bryan, framed in one of the windows and posed as Bryan threw his arm around her and grinned at the lens.
As soon as the camera was on her, Isobel's entire demeanor changed. She pouted subtly, her shoulders thrown back with one foot forward, exuding a confidence that she certainly hadn't exhibited beforehand.
"And I don't know, maybe like a-" she stuck out her tongue and threw up a peace sign.
Bryan nodded enthusiastically and they both began to cycle through poses which got steadily more and more absurd.
"OK, OK," she said laughing, "I think thats probably enough," as Bryan crouched on the floor like a crab. Kai snapped one last photo of him, after all, he looked absolutely ridiculous.
He handed Isobel's phone back and she shuffled through the photos grinning. "These are great, oh my god, look at this one!" she laughed and showed them both a photo where Bryan had done a sort of strange pirouette in the air.
"Can I have a closer look?" Bryan asked, taking the phone and scrolling through the photos.
Then, to Kai's horror, he asked, "don't you want a photo with Kai?"
"Oh, I don't think he wants-"
"Yes he does!" said Bryan, who, still holding Isobel's phone, began to take photos of both of them.
"Give that here!" Kai snapped as he lunged for it, snatching the phone from Bryan's hands.
Isobel gave him a terrified look. "Sorry! I'll delete them! You can do it actually, y'know if you want to make sure-" she said quickly as Kai glowered at her. "I'll even delete them from my deleted folder-"
But Kai was already scrolling through the photos. Bryan- the git- had been taking them for way longer than he had let on. The first few photos were actually not that bad, there was something candid about them, and Kai noticed that he didn't look they way he usually did in photos- like he was the most unhappy person on earth.
Isobel reached for the phone but Kai held it away from her so that he could take a closer look.
"Hn." He said. "You can keep the first-" and he scrolled through the photos again, "three. The first three photos. OK?" and he passed the phone back to her.
"I can?" she said in surprise.
"Yeah. Its fine. C'mon, we're going," and he grabbed Bryan by the upper arm and dragged him in the direction of the exit.
"Aw man! See ya sweetheart!" said Bryan as he waved goodbye.
"I promise, I wont post them!" called Isobel as they left.
"It's fine!" Kai called back. "It's your job!" he said, hoping very much that he would not regret it.
Omg. I can't believe I've wrote something that isn't Elapsed. I think this is going to be chaos mehehehe!
Hope you liked it! Please let me know. Have a fab day!